The Movement Project to Offer Creative Movement, Modern Dance, and Ballet for Youth

by Rebecca J. Leuszler

Spread the word: there’s a new school of dance opening in Tremont! The Movement Project, a professional dance company based out of Pilgrim Congregational Church, will be offering Creative Movement, Modern, and Ballet for youth ages 4-18.

The Movement Project, founded in 2009 by Megan Lee Gargano and Rebecca J. Leuszler, strives to challenge perspectives, evoke social change, and bridge communities through the power of movement. After many years of work as a dance company, they are eager to open their School of Dance as a home for youth dance education in Cleveland.

The Movement Project School of Dance will be offering Creative Movement classes for 4-5 year olds on Tuesdays from 5:00 – 5:45pm and Creative Movement/Ballet classes for 6-8 year olds Thursdays from 5:00 – 6:00 pm. The Creative Movement classes enhance and develop gross and fine motor coordination skills, creative expression and thinking, social interaction, problem solving, cooperative play, rhythm, and rhyming skills. Creative movement also helps to develop individual confidence in students as well as the ability to successfully work and create with others. The Creative Movement/Ballet class will increase motor skills in preparation for modern dance; in addition, it will incorporate an introduction to the technique, class structure, and skill set of ballet.

The School of Dance will also be launching its pre-professional program for students 9-18 yrs old, which is structured to develop a well rounded, technically sound, and creative dancer. Tuesday evenings will host TMP’s 9-13 year old dancers, starting with Ballet I from 6:00 – 7:00 pm and Modern I from 7:00 – 8:00 pm. Thursday evenings, the 14-18 year old dancers will have Ballet II from 6:00 – 7:00 pm and Modern II from 7:00 – 8:00 pm. The Modern classes will use the core concepts of space, time, and energy to develop a qualitative approach to movement. Each class will integrate a wide range of modern techniques, such as Release, Limon, and Horton. Through challenging movement structures and phrasing, students will refine and develop concepts of weight, quality, effort, and spatial/physical awareness. Ballet classes will develop technique and understanding of classical and contemporary ballet and terminology, including Vaganova, Cecchetti, and Balanchine techniques. This genre will focus on working from an anatomical approach, creating honest and sound movement, focusing on the correct placement of bones, and allowing muscles to function effortlessly and efficiently.